Barack Obama News
Read news, analysis, and commentary on Barack Obama, his administration’s legacy, and his continuing impact on national debates.
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news
Gov. Brian Sandoval Backs Out as Obama’s Possible Supreme Court Pick
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, has taken his name out of contention in President Obama’s search for a nominee to fill the current Supreme Court vacancy. In a statement Sandoval provided Thursday to Nevada political reporter and commentator Jon Ralston, the governor said: Earlier today, I notified the White House that I do not wish to be… -
opinion
Voters, Not Obama, Should Decide Future of Supreme Court
The last time voters had the opportunity to show the direction they’d like to see the country go, they voted against the one President Barack Obama was taking. That’s why it’s hard to see how allowing him to pick Justice Antonin Scalia’s successor and shape the direction of the Supreme Court for the next decade… -
news
Progressives Rip GOP’s ‘Unconstitutional’ Blocking of Obama Supreme Court Nominee
Senate Republicans are abusing their constitutional authority by “blockading” any Supreme Court nominee put forward by President Barack Obama, progressive legal experts said Wednesday. “This is not just an instance of the Senate refusing to do its duty. This is actually better understood as an unconstitutional power grab by the Senate,” Edward Fallone, an associate professor… -
news
Lawmakers: Obama Administration Illegally Diverted Billions Intended for US Treasury to Insurers
Republicans on Capitol Hill are questioning the legality of a move by the Obama administration to give billions to insurers under a program implemented under Obamacare that they say is equal to an insurer bailout. At issue for lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee is whether the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services… -
news
GOP Senator Pushes for Action on Obama Judges Amid Supreme Court Fight
The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee has vowed to block the path for President Barack Obama’s eventual Supreme Court nominee. But Sen. Pat Toomey is asking that committee to quickly let through two different Obama nominees from his home state of Pennsylvania. The Republican senator’s push comes as the Senate continues to clash over whether Obama… -
opinion
Obama’s Plan to Close Guantanamo Bay Leaves Out Key Details
As President Barack Obama delivered his speech from the Roosevelt Room in the White House on closing Guantanamo, his plan to close the terrorist detention facility was delivered to lawmakers. The 9-page plan—read together with the administration’s legal analysis of the immigration consequences if some of the remaining 91 Guantanamo detainees were brought to the… -
opinion
Obama’s Final Year Could Be His Most Dangerous
In the military, it is well known that the most dangerous time on any operation or deployment is not at the beginning, when you are least experienced, but in the final time period, just before you complete your “tour of duty.” This seems counterintuitive, but it is true. Scarily, this is also true for President Barack… -
opinion
Obama’s Economic Report Mentions Freedom Once, Inequality 235 Times
The newly released Economic Report of the president from the Council of Economic Advisors mentions “inequality” 235 times and “freedom” just once—and that’s with respect to freedom not even in the United States, but in Malaysia and Vietnam! As The Heritage Foundation’s 2016 Index of Economic Freedom demonstrates, more freedom is correlated with higher incomes,… -
opinion
Obama’s Radical Decision to Cozy Up to a Brutal Dictatorship
Between calls for comity and lamentations over bitter partisanship, Barack Obama does the darnedest, most divisive things. Take his upcoming visit to Cuba, home of a communist, military dictatorship that remains unrepentantly anti-American. The newspaper Granma, is telling the captive population on the island that President Obama’s visit proves that there are no human rights… -
news
Can the GOP Stay United on Strategy to Fight Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee?
The fight over the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court is spilling over into a second week, with most Senate Republicans uniting around the idea that the American people should be left to decide the fate of the high court. Using the hashtag #NoHearingsNoVotes, conservatives spent Friday building support around the idea that the Senate… -
opinion
Obama’s Visit to Cuba Betrays America’s Commitment to Freedom
When President Barack Obama arrives in Havana next month, he will be greeted by an old-school autocrat, hungry for resources to sustain his oppressive regime. His visit will do little to improve the lives of every day Cubans, but it will significantly strengthen the regime that rules them at gunpoint. It is clear that human… -
opinion
Obama’s Disappointing Decision to Skip Scalia’s Funeral
On Feb. 10, President Barack Obama gave a speech bewailing America’s “poisonous political climate.” Speaking to the Illinois General Assembly, he stressed that there was a better way: Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about something a friend of mine, Deval Patrick, once said to his constituents when he was governor of Massachusetts. He said,… -
news
What Scalia’s Death Means for Obama Climate Agenda’s Implementation
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death will likely help the Obama administration implement its landmark climate change plan regulating coal emissions. The shift in momentum comes after the Supreme Court last week, before Scalia’s death, voted to temporarily block the Clean Power Plan from being enforced as it makes its way through the legal process…. -
opinion
Ben Sasse Channels ‘Braveheart’ in Message to Obama on Supreme Court Nominee
Standing outside the U.S. Supreme Court with the American flag flying at half-staff, Sen. Ben Sasse challenges President Obama to nominate a justice who will repudiate the executive unilateralism of his presidency. The video, taped this week, was released Thursday as the nation mourns the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and awaits Obama’s nomination of… -
news
What Will Obama Achieve With His Cuba Visit?
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be making a historic trip to Havana, Cuba, March 21-22, the White House announced Thursday. Next month, I'll travel to Cuba to advance our progress and efforts that can improve the lives of the Cuban people. — President Obama (@POTUS44) February 18, 2016 “President Obama’s decision… -
opinion
It’s Time to Throw Out Obama’s Spending Levels
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., met with the Republican conference last week to make a pitch on the shape of this year’s House budget. Ryan’s proposal would include $30 billion in new spending authority above the Budget Control Act (BCA)’s post-sequester levels for discretionary programs in 2017. Ryan told his colleagues that the new spending… -
opinion
Obama the Obstructionist
What a shock. Now that he’s at the White House—and facing GOP opposition to appointing a new Supreme Court justice in the mere months before a new president is elected—President Barack Obama seems to have changed his tune a decade after serving as a U.S. senator. As we detail in the above video, Obama used… -
opinion
Obama’s Disappointing Nominee for US Ambassador to Mexico
President Barack Obama has nominated Roberta Jacobson, the current assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Mexico in spite of bipartisan objections. As the Senate prepares to take up her confirmation, there are a few key considerations that members should evaluate before casting their votes: Under Jacobson's direction,… -
news
Obama Says No to ‘Moderate’ Supreme Court Nominee
President Barack Obama said he isn’t looking to nominate a moderate to the Supreme Court. At a press conference Tuesday following the U.S.-ASEAN summit in California, reporter Jeff Mason of the Reuters news agency asked Obama to clarify the ideological leanings of his likely judicial nominee. A White House transcript records the exchange between Mason and Obama after the Association… -
opinion
Next President, Not Obama, Should Pick Scalia’s Successor
The unfortunate passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has opened a vacancy on our nation’s highest court. Whoever fills that vacancy, the American people deserve a nominee chosen by the next president, not by an administration with one foot out the door. The Constitution is very clear that the president has the power to…